Hans Gál

Hans Gál (Brunn near Vienna 1890 – Edinburgh 1987) was a composer trained at the New Vienna Conservatory, where he later taught. Following considerable success in the 1920s, Gál was appointed Director of the Conservatory in Mainz, where he remained until his instant dismissal in 1933 and the subsequent banning of his works by the Nazis.

Emigrating to Britain, Gál finally settled in Edinburgh at the outbreak of war. Along with all other non-British nationals he was interned as an “enemy alien” in March 1940. During this imprisonment he wrote the Huyton Suite for two violins and flute, the only instruments available in the camps. He later wrote What a Life, a music revue based on his camp experiences.

For the remaining forty years of his life, Gál was productive as a teacher, scholar and composer at the University of Edinburgh.